


Ghosts That We Knew

by alakeofstars



Series: Ghosts That We Knew [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Coming Out, Demon/Human Relationships, Demons, Dialogue Heavy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mysterious Demon Organizations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29887893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alakeofstars/pseuds/alakeofstars
Summary: “A child,” Jeonghan started, pointing his finger in Wonwoo’s direction, “a human child could derail that man. A small animal. Hell, he is doing a fine job of it on his own. Jihoon.” He gave the senior demon a pleading look, leaning in closer across the table. “We’re friends, we’ve worked together before, you can’t —““I wouldn’t necessarily call us friends,” the smaller demon cut him off cleanly. “And you’ve been out of service for a hundred years.”“Eighty,” Jeonghan corrected him immediately, as if that made it better.“I understand that most of that time was spent sleeping.”____Reposted, realized I'm definitely not done writing this one.
Relationships: Hong Jisoo | Joshua & Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Yoon Jeonghan, Lee Jihoon | Woozi & Yoon Jeonghan
Series: Ghosts That We Knew [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139384
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Writer was having a rough week and had the thought to delete this. Sorry, reposting.

Jeonghan had been awake for a month before Jihoon tracked him down — by human standards, quite some time, hinting at difficulty and even perseverance. Jeonghan was, however, not at all human. The fact that it took more than a week was more of an insult than anything and it hadn’t been as if Jeonghan had been hiding, to begin with.

No, if it took Jihoon a month to find him and send him an invitation to discuss a case, it meant that Jeonghan was his last choice — or that no other demon wanted to take the job.

“Jeon Wonwoo,” Jihoon intoned, gesturing toward the man at the counter. 

“Him?” Jeonghan frowned and tilted back in his chair to get a better look. Wonwoo was fumbling through his wallet, looking for — what? His debit card? When he couldn’t find it, he patted his pants pockets, then pushed his hands into the leather messenger bag he had slung around across his chest. Jeonghan could hear the endless apologies from where he was sitting and it was all just too painful to bear witness to. “Who is he? A politician’s son?” he asked skeptically. 

There was no way that guy could be anyone important; it had to be through relation.

“No. He’s a legal clerk.”

“A legal clerk?” Jeonghan’s attention snapped back to Jihoon, his expression equal parts insulted and shocked. “My assignment is a legal clerk?”

“Keep your voice down,” Jihoon said simply, then blew on his coffee before taking a sip.

“A child,” Jeonghan started, pointing his finger in Wonwoo’s direction, “a human child could derail that man. A small animal. Hell, he is doing a fine job of it on his own. Jihoon.” He gave the senior demon a pleading look, leaning in closer across the table. “We’re friends, we’ve worked together before, you can’t —“

“I wouldn’t necessarily call us friends,” the smaller demon cut him off cleanly. “And you’ve been out of service for a hundred years.”

“Eighty,” Jeonghan corrected him immediately, as if that made it better.

“I understand that most of that time was spent sleeping.”

Jeonghan sat back in his chair and threw up his hands in frustration. “What else are you supposed to do on vacation? So I slept.”

“Volume,” Jihoon reminded him when a patron at the neighboring table looked over, attracted by Jeonghan’s outburst. “You’re out of practice. You should have known he was your assignment the moment you walked in. You should have sensed it. You would have, a century ago.”

“It was eighty years — and how do you know that I didn’t? Maybe I was just playing along.”

The senior demon looked at him long and hard and only glanced away when Wonwoo, having finally found his card and paid, walked past them on his way to his table. Jihoon was right, Jeonghan realized; he was out of practice. The familiar tug he used to feel from his marks was there but it was faint and only when Wonwoo was close. If he hadn’t been prompted by his senior, Jeonghan would have excused it as something different. A passing attraction maybe; Wonwoo was, if not important, at least easy on the eyes.

Jihoon watched Wonwoo intently. “He clerks under a judge who is set to decide on a critical case. He’ll never achieve greatness but he’s the catalyst for so many things that we can’t allow happen. You’ll make sure he doesn’t complete the case.”

Jeonghan sighed and half-turned in his chair, giving his target an appraising look.

“This shouldn’t be too difficult for you,” Jihoon added before smiling at Wonwoo, who seemed to have noticed that he was being watched. He smiled back, shyly, and then ducked his head, focusing on his phone. The senior demon turned his attention to Jeonghan again, the friendly look souring into something mocking. “Especially if a child could manage it.”

He was needling him and Jeonghan was determined not to take the bait.

“When I finish this, you’ll give me something worth my time,” Jeonghan said firmly and Jihoon nodded once.

“When you finish this, I’ll give you an assignment better suited to your skill.”

“Fine,” Jeonghan sighed with a scowl. He’d take the assignment.

* * *

It would have been foolish for Jeonghan to go after Wonwoo right away and foolish was the one thing he was not. So he waited and he watched. He imagined himself as a predator in the woods, quietly laying in wait — and, considering who and what he was, it wasn’t too far off. As a younger, lesser demon, he had spent most of his days the same way.

He had been ferocious back then, a terror in the night. The poor souls who came across him rarely survived the encounter and, if they did, they never came back whole. His arms came from a young man who wandered too far off the path; his face, the first one, from one of the villagers who came looking for his missing friend. Years later, he found a new face, perfect, without blemish or scar, and that the eyes that came with suited him as well.

When Jihoon found him, Jeonghan had assembled himself a beautiful body, stitched together with care. Very little of his original form remained and even the slowly beating heart in his chest had once belonged to another — although, with the heart being such a delicate organ, it needed to be regularly replaced.

No one could tell that he was just a collection of different parts. Jeonghan, however, knew and he was always on the hunt for something shiny and new.

Wonwoo, he realized a week into his surveillance, after they had run into each other on the street and Jeonghan had glanced up to excuse himself, had the loveliest eyes. They were dark, darker than Jeonghan’s run-of-the-mill brown; with them, he would look terrifying.

He was tall, too. Fit but not overly built from what Jeonghan could tell, although it was hard to appraise him properly through the dark, slightly oversized sweaters he almost always wore. Jeonghan wondered what it would be like to be just a bit taller. If he was pulling him apart to take the eyes, then perhaps the legs as well.

Jeonghan also noticed that he was alone, although this inspired little to no compassion or empathy in the demon. In fact, it made an easy job only easier for his target to have few friends and distant relatives. Wonwoo spoke with his parents just once in the three weeks that Jeonghan watched him. The rest of his phone calls were to colleagues and to his doctor, and all were kept short.

Beyond that, Wonwoo seemed to spend most of his time at the office or at home, where he continued to work long into the night.

Home was the perfect place to start, Jeonghan decided after he let himself in. In the small apartment, Wonwoo would have nowhere to run and very few places to hide. His neighbors kept to themselves so Jeonghan would have ample opportunity to terrorize him without interruption.

This would be a piece of cake, he thought.

Incidentally, Jeonghan had been wrong in the past, but never quite like this.


	2. Chapter 2

To Jeonghan’s delight, it didn’t take Wonwoo long to find him. He had, of course, sped it along by knocking a glass off of the counter but that was neither here nor there. Wonwoo did not have a cat and so that could mean only one thing: an intruder. Jeonghan was almost buzzing with excitement when he heard Wonwoo’s footsteps in the hall.

And then the light turned on.

“Oh, Jesus Christ!” Wonwoo said, putting one hand over the rapidly beating heart Jeonghan could hear in his chest. God, he had missed that sound; it was almost music to his ears. “You scared me!”

Jeonghan smiled, his sharp teeth prominently on display. “That’s the point.”

His victorious moment was cut short, however, when Wonwoo squinted at him. Could he not see him at all without the glasses? Maybe it was a bad idea to take his eyes. His legs, he made a mental note, seemed to be working fine.

“Hold on, hold on,” the man sighed, turning to leave the kitchen. “I need my glasses. I can’t see anything.”

Jeonghan’s mouth fell open.

“Okay, better,” Wonwoo said as he returned. He looked long and hard at Jeonghan, then narrowed his eyes, enough to make Jeonghan concerned that even the prescription lenses weren’t enough. “I’ve seen you before, haven’t I? At the coffee shop. Have you been stalking me this whole time?”

The demon’s mouth set in a hard frown. Wonwoo didn’t seem frightened of him at all. In fact, he seemed more annoyed than anything, especially now that he had a proper look at him. _Fuck._ First impressions were so important.

“Not the whole time,” Jeonghan snapped, feeling slightly deflated.

“But for a while,” Wonwoo pressed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“For a while, yes. Look, what is this?” 

“What is what?” 

Jeonghan gestured at Wonwoo's face. “Your whole, you know — how you’re dealing with this. Why aren’t you scared? A strange man just appeared in your kitchen.”

A fleeting look that Jeonghan couldn’t identify passed over Wonwoo’s face.

“With the way this week is going, I can’t say that I’m all that surprised .” He shrugged.

Jeonghan stepped closer until they were almost nose-to-nose. “What if I told you that I’m not human?”

“What if I told you that it doesn't matter?” The man countered, leaning in.

The challenge in his voice was maddening but Wonwoo’s lack of fear was worse. Jeonghan was used to being terrifying and this was supposed to be an easy job. Nothing in his weeks of careful surveillance had prepared him for this.

“Look,” Wonwoo exhaled, annoyed again. “Tomorrow is going to be really busy and I need to get to bed. Stay, don’t stay — I really don’t care. Just be quiet.”

Jeonghan looked baffled and, for a moment, he was exactly that: quiet. 

“And what if I’m not?” He tried again, doing his best to sound threatening but it was clear that Wonwoo knew that Jeonghan had lost control of this situation.

“Don’t be rude."

The two stared each other down in silence for a few moments before, frustrated, Jeonghan threw up his hands and stomped to the door.

“I’ll be back,” he warned and then gritted his teeth when he heard Wonwoo’s short laugh.

“I’ll be here.”

* * *

If any other demon had failed as spectacularly as Jeonghan had, they would have reached out to the senior demon on the case. It was protocol — they would have been switched out right away and the plan would have continued.

Jeonghan had no intention whatsoever to put up a white flag and contact Jihoon. He would never hear the end of it. Worse: Jihoon would have lost faith in him entirely and his next assignment would be just that much further beneath him.

He’d try again. He wouldn’t let Wonwoo — or Jihoon, for that matter — win.

Jeonghan arrived the next night earlier in the evening. The element of surprise had been ruined anyway; there was no use playing the part of the monster in the night and it might work better if he could see him. Instead, he neatly magicked himself in, appearing in right in front of Wonwoo.

“Oh, great,” Wonwoo said, his voice weary. “You’re back. Can you knock next time? I am in the middle of something.”

“No, I can’t knock next time,” the demon snapped. “That’s not how this works.”

“It would be nice though.”

“I’m not in the business of being nice.”

“Your mother must be so proud,” Wonwoo muttered as he returned to the table. His papers were neatly stacked around him and a rainbow of highlighters were ready and waiting. Jeonghan wanted desperately to sweep it all onto the floor just to get a strong reaction from Wonwoo, but it seemed childish and more like a temper tantrum than anything.

“I don’t have a mother,” he said instead.

Wonwoo paused and gave Jeonghan a thoughtful look. “No. I suppose you don’t. Are you planning on staying long? You can make some tea if you’d like. I like the ginger.”

Wonwoo’s casual irritation toward him was just as disarming now as it was the first night that Jeonghan had appeared. Maybe it was a ploy, he thought and felt his resolve to keep Wonwoo from chasing him away grow stronger.

Pulling out a chair, Jeonghan sat down, arms crossed over his chest.

“So that’s a no on the tea?” Wonwoo asked.

“You’re not afraid of me.”

It was a statement, not a question, but Wonwoo answered him all the same: “no.”

“Why is that? I am very frightening.”

Wonwoo smiled but the warmth never made it to his eyes. “There are a lot of things in this world that are scary but you are not one of them.”

Jeonghan watched as Wonwoo returned to his work. Had he met a demon before? That seemed like something Jihoon would have warned of in advance: there were special procedures to be followed in those instances, there were behaviors to escalate.

“Family name Jeon?”

“Yes,” Wonwoo said, not lifting his head.

“Is your family from Busan?”

He had heard of a multi-generational case that had, unfortunately, been bungled. It had been going according to plan until the family got wise and started warning the grandchildren and great-grandchildren about the beastie lurking beneath the floorboards. After that, they were frightened but had learned to live with their otherworldly housemate.

Jeonghan had heard he was a bit of a softy anyway, didn’t like to scare the children.

“No. Changwon, actually. Have you been?”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and ignored the question. He uncrossed his arms and leaned toward Wonwoo across the table. “You know I’m going to have to come back and try this all again, don’t you? It’ll only get worse from here.”

“You’re just doing your job,” Wonwoo murmured, sounding more interested in his reading than Jeonghan’s threat.


	3. Chapter 3

“What if,” Jisoo started and then paused, his eyes unfocused as he sunk deeper into thought. “What if you maimed one of his family members in front of him? That would rattle him, don’t you think?”

Jeonghan had met Jisoo for a walk along the river, something they had done frequently years (and years) ago when they were younger. Their friendship was, by all accounts, unexpected: Jeonghan was your run-of-the-mill demon, created in the depths of a cave in some forest; Jisoo’s pedigree was much more illustrious. He even had a title, although Jeonghan actively did his best to forget it, sheerly out of spite.

He rolled his eyes at Jisoo.

“Too obvious,” Jeonghan drawled, although he had considered it, especially after Wonwoo had so helpfully corrected the guess of his hometown. It would be easy to make his way to Changwon — and parents _loved_ him, something that amused him to no end. Where was their sense of self-preservation? Did they not worry about strangers around their children once they were grown? There weren't just demons lurking: there were terrible people, too.

“Oh,” Jisoo said wistfully, “but wouldn’t it be fun? And that little heart of yours has to be running out of time. Wouldn’t it be better to kill two birds with one stone?”

Melted ice cream was dripping down Jisoo’s fingers and he lifted his hand to his mouth, his soft pink tongue darting out to clean up the mess. The heads of several pedestrians on the walkway turned and Jeonghan snorted, even though he knew that they couldn’t help their draw to Jisoo.

“Have you moved on from your nighttime activities?” He asked, lifting his brows suggestively. “Don’t tell me you prey on them in the daytime too.”

Jisoo ignored him and bit along the chocolate-coated rim of the cone.

“What bothers him? Maybe you’re missing something.”

“From what I can tell? Nothing,” Jeonghan said with a sigh. He stopped and thread his fingers behind his head, wracking his brain for some sort of plan. It would be night soon and Wonwoo would be home from work.

 _Oh_.

Just as the gears in his head started turning, his eye was caught by a little girl, running through the crowd. The nanny must have gotten distracted, he thought, watching her sprint toward the street and then, just before she bolted into traffic, a tall man with silver hair reached out and grabbed her wrist.

 _Close_.

“You’ll think of something,” Jisoo, ever the loyal friend, said and Jeonghan looked back to him. He had finished most of his ice cream cone and was peeling the paper wrapper back from the very end.

“I’m sure. Maybe I can —“ Jeonghan’s sentence was cut off by the horrific sound of metal and, then, screams. Both demons glanced over and right where the girl and the man had been, a car had swerved and crashed into the metal barrier posts of the crosswalk.

 _Not close enough_ , he mused, and then: _maybe one of us._

_Maybe he does consults?_

* * *

There were two mugs of tea waiting on the table when Jeonghan arrived. Two black binders had joined the mountain of books and papers, and Wonwoo was sitting behind his laptop, the light from the screen reflecting in his glasses.

“Did you have a good day?” Wonwoo asked, looking up from his work with a small smile.

“Actually,” Jeonghan said casually as he sat down, “I did.” He picked up the mug of tea and blew on it gently, even though he was sure there was no way it could be hot enough to hurt him. If Wonwoo wanted to play this game, however, he was more than happy to join him.

He just hoped Wonwoo was ready to lose.

“Meet up with a friend?”

“Yes.”

Wonwoo blinked and then laughed shortly. “Do you have friends?”

“Everyone has friends,” Jeonghan snapped, feeling a little more offended than he would have liked.

“I’m sorry. I just thought —“

“I know what you thought: demon, friendless. I probably have more friends than you, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo’s face fell slightly and it was nice to see that there was _something_ that got under Wonwoo’s skin. He looked back to his laptop and then the only noise in the room was his intermittent typing and the clicking of his external mouse. Jeonghan sipped on his tea as noisily as possible.

“Does your friend have a name?” Wonwoo asked, cutting off the slurp.

“Jisoo,” Jeonghan said softly before taking another obnoxious sip.

“That’s a nice name.” There was a hint of annoyance in Wonwoo’s tone, despite his best attempts to sound even and measured, totally unbothered. “Do you have a name?”

“Jeonghan.” Jeonghan set his mug down on the table loudly, ignoring the coaster.

Wonwoo’s eyes flickered from the screen to the mug. “Who names a demon?”

“Depends on the demon. Jisoo chose his name — he’ll be delighted to hear you like it. The villagers I used to torment chose mine, although,” he tilted his head, trying to think back that far, “it changed over the years. It was something else, at first. Anyway,” the demon shrugged and smiled, “I guess Jeonghan stuck.”

Wonwoo had been listening quietly but as Jeonghan finished speaking, his hand darted out toward the mug.

“Ah-ah, Wonwoo,” Jeonghan said in a sing-song, sliding the mug across the table, just out of reach, leaving streaks of condensation across the wood. He hoped it would leave a mark or, at least, he hoped that Wonwoo was concerned enough about it to be distracted. If he couldn’t terrify the man, at least he could do was be a thorn in his side.

When Jeonghan’s mug of tea was finished, he reached over and drug Wonwoo’s mug over, applying subtle force to the handle so that the unglazed edge on the bottom scraped against the table. Wonwoo exhaled sharply through his nose.

“Do you sleep?” 

Jeonghan snorted. “I’ve spent the last few decades asleep.”

“Of course you have.” 

Wonwoo sounded suddenly tired and weary and Jeonghan smirked to himself. Now he was getting somewhere.

“You’re free to sleep on the couch,” he continued, gesturing toward the living room. “I’ll be finished in just a bit and —“

“Too soft, I think,” Jeonghan said, cutting him off. “What are my other options? How is your bed?” 

“You can’t sleep in my bed —“ Wonwoo started to protest but Jeonghan was already in motion, leaving both the half-finished mug of tea and Wonwoo at the table.

The bedroom was small, dominated by the bed in the center of the room and a large dresser. A few framed pictures were hung on the wall and Jeonghan reached out to straighten one. 

“Don’t touch that,” Wonwoo said, having followed the demon as quickly as he could.

Jeonghan gave him a look that implied offense, as if Wonwoo was out of line to worry that he would cause trouble, and then turned his attention to the bed. 

“We can share, can't we? Big enough for two, don’t you think? Three? Maybe four.”

“Stop.“

“More? Wonwoo, you surprise me,” Jeonghan teased, toeing off his shoes before flopping back down on the bed, arms stretched out. 

“I said _stop_.” He was openly and clearly irritated now but the demon couldn’t miss the faint blush on his cheeks. “You can’t sleep here.”

“Can’t I?” Jeonghan rolled onto his stomach and set his chin in his palm, biting his lip coyly; he then cackled when Wonwoo looked away. “Ah, you’re no fun.”

“Is this your plan? To annoy me to death?”

“Something like that.”

It was the wrong thing to say, Jeonghan realized as he watched Wonwoo stomp out of the room. He started to climb out of bed to follow until he heard the slap of the laptop closing and the lights outside of the bedroom started to turn off. Jeonghan pushed himself up, his heels beneath him as he kneeled and waited for Wonwoo to return.

“Fine,” Wonwoo snapped when he was back, setting his glasses on the bedside table. He pulled the blankets down with a yank and climbed into bed.

“This side is mine?” Jeonghan teased. When he was met with silence, he leaned in closer, balancing his weight on one hand. “Wonwoo. Wonwoo — _hey_.”

“What?” 

“They say you shouldn’t go to bed angry. Do you want to talk it out?”

Wonwoo retreated further into his bedcovers, ducking almost entirely beneath them. His black hair was all that was left visible and Jeonghan smirked. It served Wonwoo right; this job was supposed to be easy and all he had done since that day Jeonghan appeared in his kitchen was make it more difficult than was necessary. 

“At least turn off the light if you’re going to bed,” he chided and crawled across the bed to reach for the switch on the lamp, one hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder as he took his sweet time drawing out the task. 

It was easier for Jeonghan to see in the dark — one of the many benefits he enjoyed as a demon — but he didn’t need to see to know how uncomfortable he was making Wonwoo. He was breathing as shallowly as he could, his body cringing beneath the blanket. Jeonghan leaned in closer, the closest he had ever been, and breathed his name, his mouth where he figured an ear would be. 

“Please,” Wonwoo whispered. 

“Please what?”

“Please let me sleep, Jeonghan.”

The tone of his voice made Jeonghan pause. He had heard quite a few pleas in his time, usually, mostly, just before the end. All laced with panic and desperation, and wonderful to hear. This was different. This was tired, tinged with a sadness Jeonghan couldn’t quite understand, and it tugged on heartstrings he didn’t realize were there.

Good god, he was getting soft in his old age, wasn't he?

“Okay,” Jeonghan whispered back. “But tomorrow, you’re so fucked.”


	4. Chapter 4

Truthfully, he hadn’t planned on falling asleep but once the city grew quiet and the apartment grew quieter still, and Wonwoo’s breathing had slowed and deepened, it was hard for Jeonghan to stay awake. He’d just rest his eyes, he told himself, stretching out on the bed. Just for a minute, maybe five.

Jeonghan woke the next morning just as the sun came up but, somehow, Wonwoo had already managed to get out of bed. A blanket was draped across his body and he wondered if Wonwoo had given it to him. He must have; the duvet cover that Wonwoo had hidden beneath the night before had been neatly tucked underneath Wonwoo’s pillow on his side.

“You’re up,” Wonwoo said, coming into the bedroom. He was dressed in black, a triangle of his white shirt visible at the v of his sweater. “How do you like it?” He asked as he opened the top drawer of his dresser and plucked out a pair of socks.

Jeonghan blinked. Wonwoo wasn’t angry anymore. In fact, he actually seemed cheerful.

“The mattress. Too soft?”

 _He’s absolutely fucking insane_ , Jeonghan thought and, for the briefest of moments, he wondered if Jihoon was trying to get him killed. He couldn’t remember for the life of him what he could have done to deserve it but it was hard to deny that he probably did.

“No,” the demon answered finally, his voice rough from sleep.

“Good,” Wonwoo said with a smirk and then sat down on the foot of the bed to put on his socks. “There’s breakfast in the kitchen,” he paused and glanced over his shoulder, “I didn’t know what you liked so I just made extra of what I was having. If you don’t like bacon, there’s yoghurt in the refrigerator. Make yourself at home. I’ll be back after work.”

“You’re just going to leave me here?”

“You’d just come back tonight anyway.”

He wasn’t wrong. There had been times in the past when Jeonghan had multiple assignments; humans were not difficult creatures, generally, and he could juggle two or three if he really needed to. Or if he found it particularly fun. Wonwoo was, however, his only assignment. There was nothing else for him to do other than be as obnoxious and distracting as possible.

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes. “Maybe I’ll come to work with you.”

Wonwoo bristled visibly for a second and then tried, almost immediately, to relax, to be casual. Like the idea of Bring Your Demon to Work Day didn’t bother him in the slightest. “You’ll get bored. It’s more fun here, I promise. The TV has at least a hundred channels.”

The demon smirked — he wasn’t fooling anyone. Jeonghan climbed out of bed and stalked around so that he could look Wonwoo in the eye.

“I warned you today would be bad,” he said.

* * *

The walk to the office wasn’t long but it was still enough time for Jeonghan to completely ruin Wonwoo’s good mood.

“Do you think the judge will show me his gavel?”

“No,” Wonwoo said through gritted teeth. “I already told you, you won’t see the judge. We don’t have court today.”

Jeonghan had already worn Wonwoo down to the point that he was no longer arguing that there was no way that Jeonghan could follow him into the office. Doors, the demon reminded his little human, couldn’t keep him out. Who was to say that he wouldn’t just _appear_?

“Do you think he’d make an exception, though,” Jeonghan asked as he side-stepped along the sidewalk, bouncing along not unlike a small child. “What if you asked him really nicely?”

“ _No.”_

“I just want to see it. I won’t even touch it.” Then he smirked and added, slyly, “unless he wants me to.”

Wonwoo’s head snapped up and he gave Jeonghan a wide-eyed look, which made the demon cackle gleefully.

“You’re so fucking easy,” Jeonghan snorted. “My God, remind me to get you a string of pearls to clutch.”

The office was a tall, brick building with thin windows and two large, ornate doors. Jeonghan could see the security guards through the glass, flanking the metal detectors and as people filed in, they’d empty their pockets and send their briefcases and bags along a conveyor belt. Things really had changed a lot since he had taken his sabbatical.

“You can’t come in,” Wonwoo said firmly, taking hold of Jeonghan’s shoulders. “You can’t.”

He wasn’t using the tone from last night but it didn’t matter. The look in his eyes did enough to make Jeonghan reconsider, and then mentally kick himself for falling for it — whatever _it_ was — again. He shook off Wonwoo’s hands and stepped in closer.

“You can’t stop me,” he said. It wasn’t a challenge or a dare: it was the truth. There was nothing in the world that Wonwoo could do to keep him out and they both knew it.

“Please,” Wonwoo whispered. “Go to the coffee shop across the street. I’ll give you my iPad,” he added, beginning to reach into his messenger bag. “I’ll give you money for lunch. Please, just let me get this done today.” He pushed the device into Jeonghan’s hands and then started going through his wallet.

Jeonghan sighed and looked at the coffee shop. Maybe it wouldn't be half-bad to take an easy day. “I’m going to need more than that,” he said, not even looking at the wad of bills that Wonwoo was offering him. There were more than a few rich and powerful men in Jeonghan's case history, and they had spoiled him absolutely rotten.

“Really?” Wonwoo blinked at Jeonghan but when the demon glared at him, he fished out whatever was left.

“Thank you,” Jeonghan said cheerfully, then turned on his heel. “Meet me for lunch,” he called over his shoulder as he crossed the street, not bothering to look to see if there was incoming traffic. He knew Wonwoo was watching and when he heard his heart thud anxiously in his chest, he grinned.

* * *

All things considered, Jeonghan had waited fairly patiently for Wonwoo. It wasn’t until 1:30 PM that he became irritated and decided that, like it or not, he was going into the office and he was going to wreak the unholiest of havoc on Wonwoo in retribution for being stood-up. The iPad he left on a table, out of spite and punishment. Let Wonwoo buy a brand new one. Served him right.

His plan was cast aside as soon as Jeonghan saw Wonwoo leaning heavily against the wall of the building. He was pale and his face was drawn; the closer that Jeonghan got, the more he could hear Wonwoo’s heavy breathing.

“What happened?” The demon asked and he crouched in front of Wonwoo, his hand moving up as if he wanted to touch his forehead for fever. He thought better of it at the last minute and braced both hands on his thighs as he peered up at him.

“Nothing,” Wonwoo said.

“You’re very bad at lying. How in the world did you get finish law school?"

Wonwoo smiled weakly. “I missed lunch,” he said softly.

“I know,” Jeonghan said but he didn’t really care anymore. He glanced around them for a bench. Everything was occupied but it was easy enough to scare little old ladies off. “You should sit down.”

“I think I need to go home.”

Jeonghan nodded and stood up, taking Wonwoo by the wrist and using his hold on him to loop one arm over his shoulder. “I’ll walk you,” he said and when Wonwoo gave him a funny look, he snapped, “what? I’d just be coming over later anyway. Saves me a trip.”

The return walk back to Wonwoo’s apartment went much slower and Jeonghan was much quieter. He knew, logically, that he shouldn’t be doing this — any of it. This wasn’t part of the assignment, Jihoon hadn’t sent him to be a caretaker. Even just the thought of it was laughable. But there he was, shouldering Wonwoo’s weight at the street corner, even fretting a least once that perhaps walking had been a bad idea. He hadn’t spent all of the money from earlier. Should he call a cab?

“Here we are,” he said once they were finally home, the door securely locked behind them. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

The demon rolled his eyes but did not answer, and in the bedroom, he sat Wonwoo down on his side of the bed.

“Lay down,” Joenghan said sharply, lest Wonwoo planned on fighting him about it. He didn’t and Jeonghan leaned over him, grabbing the corner of the blanket from that morning and spread it over his little human the best that he could. He tucked in the edges gently, took Wonwoo's glasses and set them aside, and then touched Wonwoo's hair, stroked it back from his forehead, just as he had seen countless mothers do with their children over the centuries. "Sleep," he said, his voice much softer now. "You'll feel better when you wake up."

“Thank you,” Wonwoo murmured and Jeonghan nodded, once, before going to turn off the light.


	5. Chapter 5

If Wonwoo had gotten out of bed the next morning, he had to have been quiet as a mouse, because Jeonghan slept the whole night through and then nearly into the afternoon. Like the night before last, he hadn’t meant to fall asleep. It was Wonwoo’s fault: he had made him worry just enough to take up watch over him, sitting on his side of the bed, listening for anything that might hint that it was all going sideways.

When it didn’t, when all he heard was Wonwoo’s steady, slow breathing and his heart faithfully beating in his chest, he had, apparently, drifted off.

The sun was bright in the bedroom when he woke and when he glanced at the clock on the dresser, it read 11:30 AM.

“Wonwoo,” the demon said, startling, turning to reach for the sleeping man beside him. “Wonwoo, you’re late for work.”

It took a good shake to get Wonwoo to wake up.

“What?”

“You’re late for _work_ ,” Jeonghan snapped at him and he climbed out of bed.

“Oh,” Wonwoo breathed but stayed exactly where he was, and Jeonghan felt himself flash with annoyance. Didn’t it matter? Didn’t he care? He had spent all of that time _ignoring_ Jeonghan, working long late into the night and now he didn’t care enough to go?

“Wha - “ Jeonghan started to say as he walked to Wonwoo’s side of the bed and then stopped once he had a better look at him.

Wonwoo’s face was flushed and his hair was damp with sweat; if he hadn’t been running a fever the night before, when Jeonghan had stroked his forehead, he was now and Jeonghan felt oddly guilty that he hadn’t caught the change in his temperature while he had monitored him. That guilt was quickly replaced with irritation that Wonwoo hadn’t told him how poorly he had been feeling.

 _His fault,_ Jeonghan thought. _Always his fault._

“Will you get me my phone?” Wonwoo asked, pushing himself into a sitting position and reaching for his glasses. “It’s not here.”

Wordlessly, Jeonghan retrieved his phone from the kitchen, where it had been abandoned with Wonwoo’s messenger bag and keys, and handed it to Wonwoo. When clicked, the device stayed dark.

“You didn’t plug it in,” Wonwoo said, sighing heavily.

“ _You_ didn’t plug it in!” The demon responded immediately and Wonwoo nodded a tired surrender. “Plug it in now. You need to tell them that you’re sick.”

Wonwoo nodded again and did as he was told, and then set the phone on the bedside table.

“What’re you doing? You should call them now,” Jeonghan said impatiently.

“It takes a moment. The battery has to charge enough before you can turn it on,” Wonwoo explained, his voice gentle despite his fatigue.

“If you had a landline —“ Jeonghan started and Wonwoo cracked a smile, cutting him off: “I am _not_ getting a landline.” 

The demon snorted. Humans certainly were stubborn creatures, weren’t they? Living in the future with their shiny little devices that couldn’t turn on even if plugged in. Refusing to go back to earlier technology even when it made more sense.

“Is it charged yet?”

“No,” Wonwoo said and then sighed. “Will you get me a glass of water?”

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes. “I’m not your nurse.”

“No, I know. It would just be helpful. Please?”

“Fine,” Jeonghan snapped and returned to the kitchen. Where the cups were, exactly, was a mystery to him but after a few tries, he finally found them — as well as a shelf full of medicine bottles, more than he had seen before, and most with a prescription printed on the label. He picked one up and rotated it as he read. _For nausea._

There had to be something there for fevers, he realized and set the glass down so he could use both hands in his search, discarding each medication that did not apply: two for pain, one for depression, one for anxiety. Finally, he found a big bottle that advertised itself as a fever reducer and he tucked it beneath his arm before returning to his original task.

Wonwoo was on the phone when Jeonghan returned to the bedroom and he winced at the betrayed face the demon made.

“You said it wouldn’t turn on!” Jeonghan once he was finished with the call. He wanted to throw the pill bottle at him but thought better before he acted on the impulse, and made do with stomping his way over.

“I said it wasn’t charged —“ Wonwoo began but was interrupted when Jeonghan angrily put down the glass with a loud clank, water sloshing over the rim. “Don’t _spill_ it,” he said, looking incredibly tired. “I’m sorry. I needed some privacy.”

“To call work?”

Wonwoo didn’t answer his question. Instead, he gestured toward Jeonghan. “What’s that?”

“Medicine. You’re sick.” The bottle was also slammed down loudly.

“Thank you,” Wonwoo said, offering Jeonghan a weak smile. “This should help. Thank you,” he repeated.

Jeonghan crossed his arms over his chest and watched as Wonwoo poured out two pills onto his palm. Once they were washed down, he asked, “why didn’t you tell me that you were sick?”

Wonwoo paused for a moment, setting his water glass back down on a book since there wasn’t a coaster to keep it from causing a ring. He seemed to be considering his words carefully and perhaps that was for the best: he had already offended Jeonghan by being deceptive about the phone. Lying to him again wasn’t going to make it better.

“Because I think you’re going to kill me,” the human said finally. “Because I didn’t want you to think I was more vulnerable.”

 _Oh_.

Jeonghan blinked, and then nodded. “Fair,” he said.

“Are you?”

“I haven’t decided,” Jeonghan responded automatically and as soon as he did, he realized that was true. It had been a sure thing when he had received the assignment — he had already started considering what parts to take to replace his own — but now, it seemed optional and depending more on his mood once he had finished.

“Okay.” Wonwoo sounded surprisingly calm. It could have been the illness, though, that was dampening his reaction, Jeonghan thought. “Thank you for telling me.”

“You said I didn’t scare you.”

His little human smiled again. “Why would I admit that to you?”

Jeonghan realized then that Wonwoo was a much better liar than he had previously thought and his annoyance returned, but before he could lay into him, Wonwoo spoke up again: “are you going to stay?”

“Tonight?” Jeonghan pretended to consider it. As if he had anything better to do. As if he preferred to be anywhere else. “Yes.”

Wonwoo nodded, his fingers playing with his blankets. “Can you do me a favor then?”

“I told you I’m not your nurse!”

“No, I know, I know,” Wonwoo said, holding up both hands as if to stave off Jeonghan’s anger. “Look, you want to ruin my life. That’s fine, I get it. That’s your job. But just think how enjoyable it would be for you to ruin my life when I’m feeling _better_. This,” Wonwoo gestured at himself, “this is too easy for you, don’t you think? If I’m feeling better, it’ll be more satisfying —”

“When I ruin your life,” Jeonghan finished for him.

“Yes. Exactly.”

The demon gave Wonwoo a long, hard look. This wasn’t his assignment, let alone his job, and he knew that if Jihoon found out that he was even entertaining the thought, he would be pulled and replaced. Quickly, quicker than he’d have to warn Wonwoo of what was happening. He knew that he should say no but he didn’t.

“What do you need me to do?” He asked finally.

“There’s a prescription waiting for me,” Wonwoo said and Jeonghan thought, _another?_ “Can you pick it up? The doctor said he would call it in as soon as he was off the phone.”

“That’s who you called. Isn’t it? Don’t lie.”

“Yes,” Wonwoo said softly.

“Okay,” Jeonghan said, feeling calmer now that Wonwoo wasn’t lying any longer, and uncrossed his arms. “Where do I need to go?”

* * *

Wonwoo didn’t trust Jeonghan with his phone so he wrote down the address and called for a taxi to take the demon to the pharmacy and bring him back. Before he left, Jeonghan refilled Wonwoo’s water glass and, despite all earlier irritation, he tucked him back into bed. Rest would help him recover and Wonwoo had made a good point about how it would be more enjoyable to ruin a happy person’s life, rather than that of someone who was sick and could barely fend him off.

Ten minutes later, the cab driver called to let Wonwoo know that he was there and waiting.

“My wallet? You’ll need money,” Wonwoo said.

Jeonghan shook his head. “I already have all of your money. Remember?”

He took Wonwoo’s keys and was careful to lock up behind him, and then he paused midway down the stairs.

Standing on the sidewalk was the silver-haired demon. He had been staring up at Wonwoo’s bedroom window but he glanced over at Jeonghan with a smile. Everything in Jeonghan’s body felt cold.

“Who are you?”He asked, walking down the last few stairs. When the other demon didn’t respond, only smiled, Jeonghan stepped closer, so they were eye-to-eye. “This one’s mine. Do you understand?” His voice was low and as dangerous as it could get.

This earned a nod but the smile never wavered.

“Don’t let me catch you here when I get back,” Jeonghan added and then pushed past him, hitting the other demon's arm with his shoulder on the way to catch his ride.


End file.
